Boston mayor Marty Walsh has declared April 9 to be Riot Grrrl Day in honor of Kathleen Hanna, who will be giving a talk and playing a Julie Ruin show at the Wilbur Theater tomorrow night.
Hanna will be introduced and presented with the proclamation by the City of Boston’s Chief of Policy, Joyce Linehan, who knows Hanna from her days as a manager and promoter at Sub Pop. According to Linehan, Riot Grrrl Day “marries two of my favorite th aings: political activism and the arts. The idea that women and girls should have a voice and be heard is something near and dear to my heart.”
The official proclamation lauds riot grrrl’s accomplishments, celebrating how the movement “gave girls a voice, created their own forms of media that mattered, and inspired girls everywhere.” Amidst more general calls to arms, the proclamation relates the need to amplify women’s voices to present day political realities, acknowledging that, “even in 2015, a woman cannot safely assume that her legal right to her own reproductive health will go unchallenged, and so many public and private policies continue to silence female survivors of violence.”
While it’s great that Walsh is concerned about feminist music communities, it remains to be seen whether this gesture will at all affect the city’s legislative approach towards facilitating the kinds of aboveground all-ages spaces where these communities can grow. In the meantime, we’re glad to see Boston supporting Hanna, plus it’s cool to see a day named for a movement rather than an individual, it really beats “Lean In Day” or “Eat Pray Love Day”, and it’s definitely a good look for a city known chiefly for its 18th century dead white guys. Now, has anyone invited Walsh to Smash it Dead Fest yet?
Read the full “Riot Grrrl Day” release from City Hall:
